The expression of special AT-rich binding protein 1 in cervical cancer and its clinical significance.

Background: The oncogenic potential of special AT-rich binding protein 1 (SATB1) has been reported in various types of cancer, but its function in cervical cancer remains not fully investigated. This study aimed to investigate the effect of SATB1 mRNA expression on tumor progression and outcomes in the cervical cancer patients.

Methods: A total of 33 cervical cancer patients treated in our hospital from September 2012 to December 2015 were included. The mRNA expression level of STAB1 in cervical cancer tissue was determined by real-time PCR, and the patients were divided into dichotomous groups based on their SATB1 expression level. Clinical characteristics, recurrence, and survival outcomes were compared between groups.

Results: Compared with the SATB1-low group, the SATB1-high group had significantly advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stages ( P =0.037) and histologic grade ( P =0.036). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that SATB1-high group had a worse overall survival ( P =0.078, marginal significant). In the subgroup analysis of pathological types, adenocarcinomas group (n=8) had a significantly higher SATB1 expression level as compared with the squamous cell carcinomas (n=18) and adenosquamous carcinomas (n=7) groups (both P <0.05). Cervical squamous cell carcinomas patients with a high-expression SATB1 (n=8) had more advanced FIGO stages ( P =0.015) and histologic grades ( P =0.060, marginal significant) as well as a higher ( P =0.069, marginal significant) incidence of lymphatic metastasis than those with a low expression of SATB1 (n=10).

Conclusion: These results showed that expression of SATB1 may have an effect on the disease progression and survival outcome of cervical cancer.